TEABOX an e-commerce tea subscription company

Tea is one of the most commonly served beverage in every Indian household for decades now. Even the latte obsessed country such as America is now turning towards this beverage. However, the first kind of tea that was available was the Green Tea. In countries such as Chine, Japan, India and Thailand green tea was used for medicinal purposes.

While green tea, or tea leaves left essentially alone, was the standard for thousands of years, oolong and then black tea were introduced in the seventeenth century. Oolong is a slightly fermented version of green tea using the same tea leaves and black tea, which is also called red tea, is a fully fermented version.

Tea is currently ranked second in consumption around the globe, has many interesting antidotes in its 5,000 year history. From its discovery to its current production, tea is a drink that spans the globe. So imagine my surprise when I read about TEABOX, an e-commerce tea company. I though to myself… the tea world has now see it all 🙂

Founded in 2012, Teabox delivers the freshest, most delicious teas from Darjeeling, Assam, and Nilgiri to the entire world. By sourcing the highest-quality teas directly from over 200 most capable and most interesting growers and estates, Teabox makes it easy for anyone—from tea experts to complete novices—to experience all the freshness, aroma, flavor, and authenticity fine tea has to offer. Within 2 years of its existence, Teabox has delivered over 30 million cups’ worth of tea to customers in 80 countries.

TeaBox June 2015, subscription box

The Teabox subscription program empowers tea drinkers to choose the kinds of tea they would enjoy. This is done by breaking down tea into several attributes such as aroma, astringency, strength, body, etc., into objective components which are matched to user preferences, habits and taste characteristics.

How does the technology behind the subscription service work? The user takes a quick five- question quiz online and their choices are submitted to the Teabox prediction engine. Each user is assigned a ‘signature’ based on their responses. The machine ­learning algorithms look for patterns to identify a selection of teas best suited to go with this signature profile.

And as the users repeat and share their experiences with our prediction engine, it improves its discerning capabilities thereby improving its understanding of a user’s choices and matches our teas to them better. This feedback loop enables a reinforced learning behavior of the system allowing it to fine tune itself to specific taste profiles as we go further.

The descriptions of teas, like wines, can be subjective. We understand this, and that’s why our prediction engine has been developed to break down subjective words like “floral,” “sweet” and “astringent” into over 75 quantifiable attributes.

“When it comes to taste preferences, there are no universals. One’s taste preferences are unique and theirs alone,” said Teabox founder and CEO, Kaushal Dugar. “But the descriptions of teas, like wines, can be subjective. We understand this, and that’s why our prediction engine has been developed to break down subjective words like “floral,” “sweet” and “astringent” into over 75 quantifiable attributes. This, coupled with the habits and preferences of our customers enables us to pick out teas perfectly suited to their palate • making our subscription program the most personalized tea experience out there.”

Highlights of Teabox’s Personalized Tea Subscription Service:

▪ Personalized: Every month the user receives tea selected based on their habits and preferences

▪ Fresh: Located in the heart of the Indian tea industry, Teabox’s fulfilment centers have easy access to tea gardens and source the freshest teas

▪ Machine Learning: The Teabox prediction engine learns more about the users as they return to share their experiences and feedback on tea selections

▪ Fast Shipping: Users receive their personalized box within five days of placing the order

Teabox’s new subscription service starts from $9.99 to $39.99 per month. For more information, please visit www.teabox.com/subscription